becact Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Well, after fully stocking my Biocube 14, I was itching for a new project. I decided the do the DIY route this time and build a pico! My build will be heavily influenced by this photo of Sandeep's tank I saw on El Fab's pico guide. (Sandeep's thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...32714&st=0) However, the tank in this photo is a 5.5g, and I am using a 2.5 AGA tank. I am kind of figuring things out as I go along, I don't really have any set plans. I know I am using a false wall off to one side of the tank to hold the return pump, a bit of chaeto, and maybe some filter floss. Here is a photo of my stuff so far! At the time I was shopping, I thought the 10w 50/50 screw in bulb would be enough. It's a cool concept, but I couldn't turn down the special at Drs Foster & Smith right now, so I just bought the 2x18w Coralife 12" fixutre for $50 shipped: Basically, so far I've water tested the tank, and built the false wall and fuge assembly. I tested the Rio 90 in the tank, and it seems like a great amount of flow! Pretty heavy flow, actually. The nozzle comes with a valve so I can lower the flow if I find it to be too much, though. My priority is to have as much view space as possible, so I made the fuge as thin as possible. It is currently drying from a few coats of Krylon Fusion. I am going to let it dry for a few hours, then silicone the assembly into the tank. I have no plans for stocking yet, except that I'll probably just pull frags from my 14 gallon. As far as coral goes, I want to keep zoas and maybe some ricordeas. I don't really have plans for livestock, but I'll probably stick a hermit and a snail or two in there (no fish). If any of my LFS gets sexy shrimp in, I may get a few. Wish me luck! Link to comment
Nanobuds Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 sweet. cant wait to see it stocked!!! Link to comment
Jake42393 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 nice! keep us updated. looks good so far :] Link to comment
andru24 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 How much of the tank are you going to partition off? Link to comment
becact Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 I've been working hard on it tonight, and got a lot done. I was not very comfortable with the wall I made for a few reasons. Firstly, I wasn't 100% comfortable with the paint on it. I know a lot of people use Krylon Fusion, but I still wouldn't feel right having chemicals like that in the tank. Secondly, the cuts were not really 100% straight. Also, the hole for the pump nozzle was too large, so water would have been able to pass through. So I spent the night making a new wall assembly. I scavenged the house looking for some black plastic, and I found this lap table: The plastic is also nice and textured a bit. Another plus was that this plastic is a lot softer than the acrylic I was using, so I can cut all the way through it with 20-30 passes of the razor for super clean cuts (no dremel wheel ) I also found this organizer in the office. It has fins on the side that I thought would work perfectly for the skimmer intake at the top, so I cut a panel out: I cut a panel out of the wall, and sanded the fin assembly until it flush fit in there perfectly. Also, I drilled the hole a bit small, then filed it out so the pump would fit perfectly. It does!: Next I measured and cut the divider wall. I left about 3/4 inch at the bottom for the water to pass through. Every part of the wall is "welded" with superglue: And a pic of the old assembly on the left vs. the new one on the right. I think the new one is way better! Lastly for tonight, I siliconed the wall assembly into the tank. First I positioned the wall where it was even and I tacked it on with drops of superglue. Then I went to town with the silicone. My silicone work is pretty sloppy, but I will try to clean the visible side up with a razor blade tomorrow. The white stuff is powder from the gloves: I'm really glad I rebuilt the wall. Now I will not have the thought in the back of my mind that the paint may be leeching chemicals. Also, this wall has a skimmer intake. Not sure if that will actually do any good, but most tanks seem to have it. Tomorrow I plan to build the panels to hide the fuge from the same black plastic. It should look really sharp with the texturing on the false wall, and the fuge panels. It will hopefully look like a 4 sided box! Link to comment
bzphotog Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I've been working hard on it tonight, and got a lot done. I was not very comfortable with the wall I made for a few reasons. Firstly, I wasn't 100% comfortable with the paint on it. I know a lot of people use Krylon Fusion, but I still wouldn't feel right having chemicals like that in the tank. Secondly, the cuts were not really 100% straight. Also, the hole for the pump nozzle was too large, so water would have been able to pass through. So I spent the night making a new wall assembly. I scavenged the house looking for some black plastic, and I found this lap table: The plastic is also nice and textured a bit. Another plus was that this plastic is a lot softer than the acrylic I was using, so I can cut all the way through it with 20-30 passes of the razor for super clean cuts (no dremel wheel ) I also found this organizer in the office. It has fins on the side that I thought would work perfectly for the skimmer intake at the top, so I cut a panel out: I cut a panel out of the wall, and sanded the fin assembly until it flush fit in there perfectly. Also, I drilled the hole a bit small, then filed it out so the pump would fit perfectly. It does!: Next I measured and cut the divider wall. I left about 3/4 inch at the bottom for the water to pass through. Every part of the wall is "welded" with superglue: And a pic of the old assembly on the left vs. the new one on the right. I think the new one is way better! Lastly for tonight, I siliconed the wall assembly into the tank. First I positioned the wall where it was even and I tacked it on with drops of superglue. Then I went to town with the silicone. My silicone work is pretty sloppy, but I will try to clean the visible side up with a razor blade tomorrow. The white stuff is powder from the gloves: I'm really glad I rebuilt the wall. Now I will not have the thought in the back of my mind that the paint may be leeching chemicals. Also, this wall has a skimmer intake. Not sure if that will actually do any good, but most tanks seem to have it. Tomorrow I plan to build the panels to hide the fuge from the same black plastic. It should look really sharp with the texturing on the false wall, and the fuge panels. It will hopefully look like a 4 sided box! These are great builds. Im dismantalling my 2.5 gal FW so it might open a new door for me. Ill be watching Link to comment
PSYS Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 WTF?? 12" 2x18 for $50/shipped? Everytime I check Fosters... their price is always $94.99. Link to comment
mattskims Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 WTF?? 12" 2x18 for $50/shipped? Everytime I check Fosters... their price is always $94.99. The CORALIFE 12" fixture is on sale not the CURRENT USA Link to comment
PSYS Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 The CORALIFE 12" fixture is on sale not the CURRENT USA Ahhh.... hence, the price difference. Thanks for clarifying. Link to comment
becact Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 The only difference is no moonlight. The Coralife is $35 before shipping. $70 is a pretty big savings over the Current! Link to comment
PSYS Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 The only difference is no moonlight. The Coralife is $35 before shipping. $70 is a pretty big savings over the Current! Does the Coralife come with two separate plugs for the daytime and actinic bulbs.... allowing you to turn on the actinics separately? Link to comment
becact Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Probably not, because the bulbs included are both 50/50 (see the pic I posted of it). It also doesn't have a fan, so I'll probably have to rig one up for heat reasons somehow. The current is definitely a better fixture, but I'm trying to do this project for not a lot of money, so I couldn't say no to the $70 savings. Sometime in the future I may end up installing an extra switch when its time to replace the bulbs, and I could do an actinic bulb and a 10000k. It shouldn't be hard to do, really. Link to comment
becact Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 After reading up on it, I called Drs F&S to try to exchange the light for a Current before it shipped, but they wouldn't do it . I'll make the Aqualight work, though. The silicone was dry enough this morning, and I did another water test. No leaks from the display to the fuge! I also built up the fuge cover panels. Unfortunately, one of my panels has a slice part of the way through it, because I didn't have enough real estate on the plastic board to choose a pristine panel (I overcut some of the other cuts), but it is barely noticable, and I put it on the panel that will be facing the wall, anyway. Here's the board when I was done with it. Just barely had enough! I also cut two trim pieces later: I also installed the pump. Here's the tank in all her beauty! And a view from the top: Here's what the paneling looks like. I tried to make it as flush as possible (sorry, photo is a little blurry): Though the stock black plastic of the tank looks to be a different color than the panels, in actuality they are the same. It is just the gloss vs. the textured finish of the panels throwing different light from the flash to the camera. I also cut these 90* trim pieces from the tray, as I thought I might use them thusly: It looks pretty good this way, but I'm still not sure which way I want to go, full glass or the trim pieces. What do you all think? I go to the coral store tomorrow to pick up a frag I have on order for my main tank, would it be OK to put sand and rock in this tank with no light? Just to start the cycle? I could run a CFL desk lamp over it for a few days until my real lighting gets here... Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Thats a great build and yes you can put the sand and rock in with no light to start the cycle. A lot of people run no light throughout the whole cycle because it cause algae to grow. Link to comment
becact Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Sweet, thanks for the reply. I guess I'll pick up a rock or two tomorrow, then. I may run the CFL desklamp over it for 4 hours a day or so, though, just so I don't lose anything photosynthetic that may have come with. Link to comment
adolfo425 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Sweet build on your 2.5 gallon. Adolfo Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I would make that a sexy shrimp tank with tons of corals just make sure to keep them well fed. Link to comment
Sandeep Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Love those file organizer teeth, what a great idea. Link to comment
jeremai Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Very resourceful use of non-standard materials. Looks great. Makes me want a pico. Link to comment
becact Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Here it is! The light is temporary, of course, until the Aqualight fixture comes in. Do you guys think it has too many rocks? Here are my two options: 1) As it is currently: 2) Removing the canopy rock: Which looks best to you? The rock has been in the LFS curing bin for a good month or two, so hopefully the cycle will be quick. I'll test later tonight. The flow seems perfect! Every part of the tank gets some amount of flow, with the far side of the tank across from the pump and the top getting the most. I tested the fuge earlier, and it keeps the water level in the display constant when the water levels drop (the level drops in the fuge). Sweet! The display water level seems to sit right in the middle of the skimmer teeth, so I guess it is getting enough flow through there. I guess now I just sit back and wait. When the light comes i have a few ideas on modding it to deal with heat. I also want to add a few strong blue LEDs for a faux actinic only look, and a solitary weak LED for a moonlight. As for stocking, will zoas, acans, and chalices wage war with each other? All of these will be fine with the 36 watts of light and the flow in there, so it is more about compatibility. Link to comment
becact Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 Just a little update, there is basically no evap with the glass top on so far. The light ran for a few hours last night and several hours today, and the tank was sitting at 81 degrees when I got home. The tank will run cooler without the glass top but evap will be drastic, I think. Link to comment
Miami Reefer Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 very nice and clean build just take the glass top and see if the evap is really bad. If the evap is bad then put the top back on. I would test all the different things now before you have anything in the tank. Link to comment
Carinya Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I like it with the black trim as you have it in the more recent pics. IMO, leave the canopy rock. As Jer said, good use of non-standard materials. Per an elementary school report card "uses resources wisely!" Nice tank! Link to comment
becact Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 With the lamp off the several hours, the tank is still at 79.3*F. I guess the pump keeps it warm. Cool, now I don't have to buy a heater! Now I'll just have to figure out a way to keep heat out of the tank from the lights. I'm thinking of installing fans, or maybe even doing LEDs. Link to comment
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